I may have some free time for a little bit and I would like to catch up on a bunch of things that have been on the back-burner for a while. I also hope to pull up old band and other video projects and push them hard into the hi-def age. It will be a lot harder than it sounds as some of my media is very old tech. We shall see.

I also wanted to share with you some of the songs my older brother David did in a studio years ago. I was not involved in writing or recording these songs. My home studio was meager by today’s standards and I was only set up for one-man songwriting stuff. I was not able to record an entire band at one time back then.

My brother’s band was doing some original songs and jamming pretty often. Tom Collins and David had an inspired writing session for a couple of hours before practice. The band mates were so excited with the new material they made calls and booked time in a recording studio the next week!!##!!

I will detail the studio experience and give the band members and authors their due in future blogs. Here is a tune from the Studio Ways session that will kick things off well. “My Dog Loves You Too” is a heart-warming love song with a pleasant twist of humor. David was faced with a challenge to write a funny love song. His ex-wife Cynthia came up with a few guitar parts and the song writing took off! Like this one, all the songs were literally finished and arranged in the studio the day they were recorded. It gives a great live feel to the collection. Tom Collins wrote most of the music for this recording and my brother wrote the lyrics.

I added a new original video for my song “From Start To Stop”. My wife Ellen does the vocals and Greg Stern wrote most of the music and plays guitar. Ellen and I wrote the lyrics.

I have mentioned Spring Grove Cemetery in past articles and posts and that is where I shot the video. There was very heavy fog that day and Ellen suggested we take some pictures there. I will post some of those in the near future, and I also shot a video using my phone that became the background for the video. There is a small mound with tombstones all around the center. You can drive all around it so I shot the video as Ellen drove around the mound. Most of the pictures in the video are mine, but I had a bit of help from my friends over the years!

I heard the other day that about 10% of people are left-handed. This generated a few thoughts that I have been rolling around in my head. I have been surrounded by lefties most of my adult life. Sometimes I get confused and try to do things like a left-handed person would. It usually does not work out very well!

Now, think about 10% of the population that most people perceive to be ‘backwards’. In schools when I was growing up and long before, educators would try to ‘correct’ what they saw as defiant, wrong, defective, backwards (and the implied stupidity). Many teachers and nuns would crack a ruler over your knuckles if you used the ‘wrong hand’, or did not correctly follow instructions on how to do a particular task.

Unfortunately in this day of political extremism, I see many similarities. Think of one party as left-handed and the other as right-handed. I will let you choose which one is which for this analogy. For many, many years the minority of left handed people were forced to conform. This not only made them feel as if they were being unfairly punished but also made it almost impossible for them to excel and improve using their natural gifts.

When politics are split drastically, one group could dominate the other. The traditions of the right-handers are forced onto the minority. There is no concern or sympathy for the minority group and they will not be given the opportunity to voice their concerns let alone suggest alternative solutions.

So let’s pretend that over the last few years the number of left-handed people increased dramatically and now they are close to a majority. The lefties are now teachers and policy makers themselves. They encourage children to perform tasks that make use of their natural tendencies. They pass laws giving them ‘permission’ to do what everyone else has done in the past – to be human. They demand equal policies and fair treatment.

But the right-handers refuse to allow that to happen and believe it is their duty to fight changes every step of the way. They see no need for change. This does not help them at all and now they have to be ‘tolerant’ of these people. They feel uncomfortable watching or learning from a leftie, and certainly do not want their children to become one. (OR MARRY ONE). They twist the truth and use marketing techniques to discredit the opposition. The Defense of Marriage Act is an example……. unnecessary as no one was attacking marriage or trying taking away any rights. The people that were not allowed to marry needed defense against the majority.

Whether it is equal pay, marriage, educational opportunities, housing, jobs, criminal sentencing and a long list of other ‘privileges’, you cannot be a more perfect union and still deny these basic rights to minority groups. Sure enough, one day they may be in the majority and will remember how they were treated in the past by those in power.

Left handed people are not trying to ‘convert’ you. They are not trying to take something from you. They are not denying or laughing at what you feel and believe. They are not traitors or devils or the enemy. They are human beings deserving of the same benefits in life the right handers have taken for granted.

I’ve been nominated to complete this challenge by several of you and after some convincing from my daughter, I’ve decided to give it a go. Instead of nominating 10 more bloggers, I would like to ask you all to post your favorite things in the comments so I can get to know you better.

I want to take this moment to thank all of you again for your very kind and encouraging comments. I have truly enjoyed reading your blogs and getting to know you better. Thank you for being a part of my journey.